Members of the AppLab and Rx.Health team, from left, Andy Pfau, JD; Sonya Makhni, MD, MBA; Ashish Atreja, MD, MPH, FACP; Shrawan Patel, MBBS; Jason Rogers; Shashank Garg; Saurabh Gupta; Sarah Zweifach; Sarthak Kakkar; and Farah Fasihuddin, MPH.
As the field of digital medicine rapidly produces novel innovations for a wide patient population, the Mount Sinai Health System’s AppLab is creating applications that provide meaningful benefits to both patients and health care providers.
Led by Ashish Atreja, MD, MPH, FACP, Associate Professor, Medicine (Gastroenterology), and Chief Innovation and Engagement Officer, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the AppLab comprises data scientists, software developers, and population health coordinators whose digital solutions for clinical and research objectives adhere to the stringent, evidence-based safeguards of traditional medicine.
To date, the AppLab has built and validated apps and other digital medicine solutions for numerous diseases and use cases. In 2017, the group launched RxUniverse, a software platform that curates clinically validated health apps. This led to the launch of Rx.Health, a Mount Sinai spinout company focused on seamlessly integrating evidence-based digital tools into health care systems. Commercialization of Rx.Health was led by Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, which facilitates the real-world application of Health System innovations as early as product ideation.
The AppLab has created a dozen stand-alone apps, developed various micro apps on the RxUniverse platform, and participated in more than 25 funded projects. In the past year, it has conducted a project at The Mount Sinai Hospital that monitors recently discharged heart failure patients through an app and connected Bluetooth devices. Through the RxUniverse platform, the AppLab also provides pertinent information and preparatory support for patients prior to colonoscopy procedures. Pfizer Inc. has provided the AppLab with a grant to study ways to improve vaccinations in inflammatory bowel disease patients. Additionally, the AppLab participates in a project with the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute to improve care among young adults with HIV.
“The proliferation of apps and new technologies makes it difficult to determine what truly has evidence,” says Jason Rogers, Program Manager, Mount Sinai AppLab. “We try to build software solutions that meet the challenge and build a community to share knowledge.”
The AppLab leads one of the many efforts at Mount Sinai to implement digital health solutions. Open-MIC (Mount Sinai Innovation Champions) is a monthly, collaborative group where individuals meet to share their success stories and what they have learned. Additionally, a Mobile Application Executive Committee was recently formed to develop guidelines for app implementation and branding.
Dawn Irish, Head of Digital Experience and Brand at biopharmaceutical maker Shire, discussed balancing automation and physician-patient engagement at the NODE.Health conference.
NODE.Health, a nonprofit founded and chaired by Dr. Atreja, fosters a wider community of digital medicine leaders throughout the country and held its second annual Digital Medicine Conference in December. During the three-day event held at the Microsoft Conference Center in Times Square, more than 30 health systems were on hand to share their projects, learn from their colleagues, and build collaborations. The conference held seminars, hosted a pitch competition, and featured roundtable discussions on topics such as “Bridging the Evidence Gap in Digital Medicine.”
Dr. Atreja says he is encouraged by advances in apps such as MyChart and those within the RxUniverse that allow patients to access their own medical records. “In the next few years, we will see the prescription of apps become mainstream,” he adds. But it is essential that they are rigorously tested to prevent potentially harmful technologies from reaching patients. “We have touched tens of thousands of patients’ lives and feel we can increase that,” says the AppLab’s Program Manager, Mr. Rogers. “It is about building out use cases for particular care pathways and scaling up the engagement so we can help more patients.”
Those interested in launching a mobile app are requested to reach out to Rebecca Lingner, Director, Branding, Mount Sinai Health System (rebecca.lingner@mountsinai.org). Additionally, the AppLab provides free ‘AppChat’ consults through the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program. Contact sinaiapplab@gmail.com to schedule a meeting.